When I had my Nonsuch 30, I wired the boat to have a separate battery dedicated for starting the engine only and a separate battery for all other "house" duties. Because of its design, the Optima is best used for start and run duties. For your needs, what you want is an AGM Battery (I used a Lifeline brand) that discharges over a slower period. They are much more expensive than liquid acid. ----- Original Message ----- From: "MC Carpenter" <southisland2@earthlink.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 11:29 PM Subject: M_Boats: gel battery
Has any one experience with a combination of using the gel-cell battery called Optima, compared to the much cheaper liquid acid battery. The Pep Boys say the gel-cell batteries do not stand up well when used as house batteries and should only be used as start and run batteries. I plan to change all navigation and cabin light bulbs to LED's and I'm looking for a battery that will go at least a three weekend with out needed charging
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